Forging Futures
by Lord Talon McClaw
Summary: With Voldemort and all his Death Eaters gone, Harry looks forward to a calm seventh year at Hogwarts. But of course for Harry Potter a year wouldn't be normal if it wasn't abnormal. Follow Harry as he begins to realize that he not only gets to have a future beyond Voldemort, but that his isn't the only future he can be responsible for. Picks up where "An Anticlimactic End" stops.
1. Prologue and The End of Summer

**Please note that the first bit of this story is the same as my work titled "An Anticlimactic End" – If you've already read that one-shot, the first chapter of this story (below the prologue) begins where it ends.**

Prologue: An Anticlimactic End

Gringotts – July 31st, 1997

Harry stumbled drunkenly out of his Gringotts account manager's office and almost fell into the arms of Moody, Tonks, and Remus. It was immediately apparent that they believed him to have been attacked or poisoned as the two aurors began casting a number of diagnostic and unneeded healing spells. Remus grabbed Harry by the shoulders and began to shift him onto the chairs the three waiting had just been occupying. Torn between staying to make sure Harry was alright and rushing off to find help, Remus only barely noticed that Harry was trying to speak.

"What was that? Harry, what did you say? What happened?" Remus' gentle voice cut through the continued spell casting of Tonks and Moody.

"He's dead… He's dead." Harry's voice barely carried to the warewolf's ears it was so quiet, but immediately all three of the older adults froze and met Harry's vacant stare with varying levels of concern.

"Who's dead Harry? Who?" Came Tonk's voice filled with no little about of apprehension.

Harry took a shaky breath before turning and meeting her eye, just barely bringing his own into focus.

"Voldemort. Voldemort is dead."

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Voldemort was dead.

The war was over.

Sitting next to his Order of the Phoenix guard Harry could hardly believe it himself as he told them how'd it happen. Even he couldn't believe _exactly_ how easy it had been.

It had all started with a letter from Gringotts that had arrived at his bedroom in Number 4 Privet Drive via eagle owl the week before his birthday. As he was turning seventeen and becoming an adult in the wizarding world, it was time that he went over his complete inheritances with a Gringotts account manager.

While they had requested his presence as soon as possible once he turned seventeen, it had at first appeared as though he wasn't going to be able to go until after school started because of security concerns. Moody and Shacklebolt were both concerned that Harry could be intercepted on the way to or back from the bank. It was actually Lupin who argued that Harry had a right to review what Lily and James Potter had left him as soon as he wanted.

It ended up being close to an all-out row between different Order members in the sitting room of the Dursely's home, who at the time had all been cowering in the kitchen pretending there wasn't a dozen "freaks" arguing on the other side of the wall.

It wasn't until Bill promised to get not only a secured goblin-made portkey, but also a promise from Gringotts to protect Harry and his escort while dealing with bank business that it was decided Harry would go to the bank just before midnight the night of his birthday. Only he and his small escort would be in the home to ensure no one else would be in danger when the wards around the house fell.

And so it was that Harry entered the office of his Gringotts appointed account manager at 12:01 AM on the day of his seventeenth birthday.

The first order of business had been a simple identity check via a drop or two of Harry's blood and an enchanted parchment, which had glowed with the words _Lord Harry James Potter-Black_ as soon the blood touched it.

This of course led to an explanation that while the Potter family held no hereditary titles, the Black family, having been granted the title of _Noble and Most Ancient_ by the sitting English monarch some thousand years previous did hold an Earldom with no place-name, which Harry had inherited when the previous head of house, one Sirius Orion Black, had left all properties and titles belonging to the family to Harry upon his death.

The next two hours was consumed by the review of all holdings of both the Potter and the Black families, both of which were substantial on their own, but combined to form one of the largest single estates in private hands anywhere in the magical world.

Harry was more than a little overwhelmed, but he was also more than a little annoyed that this was the first time he was hearing anything about any of this. The goblin, in the face of a rather angry and incredibly wealthy customer, explained that while Harry was the last of the Potters and the heir apparent to the House of Black, he couldn't become the "Head of House" for either until his majority, and only the Head of House could access or grant access to the family funds as opposed to trust vaults set up for individual family members. The goblin also took some time to show Harry how exactly the bank had both been using and growing the wealth of the Potter and Black accounts during their fifteen years or so of relative inactivity.

It wasn't until the Goblin was reviewing the remaining members of each family and going over Harry's responsibilities to them that everything came to screeching halt.

With a startled gasp, Harry all but ripped the parchment with the Potter family tree out of the Goblin's hands. The tree showed the last few generations of Potters and their cadet branches, all of whom showed their members to be deceased. But there were two names that showed living family members. The first was his own, _Harry James Potter-Black_, with the symbol denoting the paterfamilias next to it. But underneath it, connected to his own with a line denoting a child was…

…Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Harry could but stare at the name in shock and denial for what felt like several years before he was able to pull himself together enough to speak.

"What…? How…? What is _his_ name doing on here?"

The goblin hesitated for only a second in the face of Harry's cold voice. "By rights of blood, the one known as Tom Marvolo Riddle is your child. Did you not sire a son three years ago?"

It took a full minute for the impact of what the goblin said to hit Harry.

_By rights of blood_. _Three years ago_.

A shaken Harry looked up and met the goblin's uncertain eyes. "He took my blood. Voldemort took my blood and used it to create a new body almost three years ago. That makes him my son?!"

While Harry was shouted his latest question, he couldn't help but be impressed that the goblin failed to flinch at the volume of his voice or at the knowledge that apparently _Voldemort_ was now Harry's _son_.

Much to Harry's confusion, rather than flinch or pale or freak out or react in any other predictable manner, the goblin merely grinned in a way that would give a dementor nightmares.

It was quickly explained to Harry that in taking his blood, Voldemort not only created a connection of flesh between the two, but also anchored his magic to Harry and the Houses of Potter and Black. Why this was a good thing was also quickly explained in the face of Harry's horrified expression.

And soon Harry too was grinning in such a way that would give dementors nightmares.

And so, two hours later, Harry, using his powers as head of the family and with the help of several goblins, called upon Potter and Black family magics to judge the one known as Tom Marvolo Riddle (for crimes such as murder of the previous head of house and attempted murder of the house heir apparent) and strip him of _his_ magic before casting him out of both houses.

At first nothing seemed to happen, and although Harry really hadn't known what to expect to have happen anyway, he began to worry that the horcruxes had prevented Voldemort from dying yet again. But in the end they were irrelevant, as a horcrux could only exist if the originator's magic kept it bound to the selected item. No magic meant no horcruxes. And no horcruxes meant no immortality.

The first thing Harry noticed was the headache he'd had since Voldemort's return faded away as well as a mental pressure he hadn't even realized he'd been carrying around most his life. Harry had just a moment or so to bask in this new pain-free existence when different goblins began to rush in.

Another half-hour of much parchment checking and near-screeching in Gobbledygook revealed that in a last ditch effort to keep himself alive, Voldemort had used the dark marks branded onto his followers to drain them of their magic in order to supplement his missing own, killing them in the process.

That's when it hit Harry like the 9:17 freight train from Glasgow. Voldemort was dead. And he had taken all of his marked followers with him. In one night, with just a few words spoken in broken Latin and a couple of signatures, Harry had completely ended the war.

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Chapter One: The End of Summer

Following the events at Gringotts, the rest of that summer was a complete blur to the one now known as Lord Harry James Potter-Black, 113th Earl Black, head of House Potter and the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. The day of his birthday was a complete frenzied mess. All throughout greater Britain and some parts of continental Europe witches and wizards were finding their family members and coworkers either dead or dying rather painful deaths.

To say the day was both chaotic and confusing for most would be an understatement.

That afternoon, a full meeting of the Order of the Phoenix (plus Harry) was called together at Hogwarts. It was quickly explained to everyone's disbelief and much relief what had transpired at Gringotts and resulting in the end of the war.

The stunned silence was followed by a rapid discussion on what to tell the rest of the British Wizarding World. Harry was all for not saying anything and letting the details die a silent death, but Mad-Eye Moody was quick to shoot that idea down by disclosing that the Unspeakables had already determined via magical autopsy of the some two and a half-dozen dead ministry employees had perished due to magical draining via the Dark Mark. At this point in time the ministry believed one of two things were occurring: Either Voldemort was dead and had taken his followers with him, or he had drained his followers of their magic in order to perform some incredibly powerful ritual that would bring doom to the world as everyone knew it.

Given the penchant for witches and wizards to panic, no one was surprised to hear that the ministry was leaning towards the second option. After another hour of debate, it was decided (against Harry's feeble protests) that a statement would be given to the _Daily Prophet_ and the Ministry of Magic detailing a rough outline of what had happened.

And so it was that by the afternoon of the first of August 1997, most of the global magical community knew that Harry Potter (now Lord Harry James Potter-Black) had inexplicably once again defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and this time for good.

Not wanting to move into Sirius' old house, Harry spent the rest of the month staying at Hogwarts, something that Headmistress McGonagoll did not seem to find anywhere nearly as objectionable as her late predecessor. Mrs. Weasley of course objected, but once it was explained to her just the shear amount of things that Harry had to get done in the next few weeks, she backed off somewhat knowing that Harry would have both privacy and the safety of the Hogwarts wards (in case any unmarked Death Eaters went looking for revenge).

And as the case was, Harry was indeed very busy for the rest of the month. He spent most of his time either at Gringotts going over his accounts and family affairs (which included re-instating Andromeda Tonks and her family to the House of Black along with anyone else that he was able to – Harry believed that no one should be without family) or at the Ministry with Kingsley Shacklebolt working with the Minister's office to begin writing up legislative proposals that would help bring the British Wizarding World to a point that avoided re-creating a pureblood supremacy uprising. Granted Harry had neither a seat on the Wizangamot or much experience in politics, but with his seal of approval, specific pieces of legislation were much more likely to pass given that the Ministry and the Wizangamot had all but been purged of those who followed Voldemort. And Harry was all too happy to use his fame for once by sending notes to the _Quibbler_ and _Daily Prophet_ if it meant passing laws he agreed with and changing laws that he didn't.

Of course his time only got more full when Headmistress McGonagoll _requested _(read 'demanded') that he be Head Boy for his final year. Harry was very much surprised when she'd asked (read 'told him') about his new position and immediately attempted to turn it down (he hadn't even been a prefect and he wasn't at all a good student or anything like Percy Weasley). However for all his enthusiasm, his arguments to turn down the position were met with only an amused glare and a crooked eyebrow. A little less than two hours after stepping into the Headmistress' office, Harry left with a Hogwarts Head Boy's badge, a new list of meeting times to go over his responsibilities of the next year with the Head Girl, and a sense of complete and utter defeat.

Over the last two weeks of summer, Harry met several times with Headmistress McGonagoll and the new Head Girl, who Harry was surprised to see was Padma Patil and not Hermione Granger as he'd expected. After he'd asked McGonagoll about it in private he was informed that while Hermione's academic record was nothing short of stellar, she had ostracized too many people during her first few years with her attitude and hardly spent anytime getting to know people or with extra-curricular activities.

Of course Harry promptly pointed out that she might as well have been talking about him as well. McGonagoll merely glared amusedly and began listing out all of the times Harry had acted (and motivated his friends to act) in such a way to either serve or better the school. She had made it through him being a Tri-Wizard Champion and was beginning to recount his time teaching the DA when Harry admitted defeat and decided to let her have her way. Seemingly taking pity on him, McGonagoll informed him that she expected him to take to the position like a fish to water and that she looked forward to what he did with the role, knowing that he would both respect tradition and instigate changes as he saw they were needed.

It was one such idea that led to Harry to be standing in King's Cross Station (wearing a fine and rather expensive muggle suit with a Hogwarts crest on his left breast and his Head Boy badge on his lapel) a few feet away from the barrier that allowed access to platform 9 ¾. He had informed Padma and McGonagoll that instead of having both the Head Boy and Girl standing near the train helping people board, it might be better to have one of them standing on the non-magical side of the border to help first year students and their families through. He pointed out that even if one knew where the entrance to the platform was, it was still disconcerting running at a seemingly solid wall.

Of course if he had known exactly how popular he had become, he might not have so readily volunteered for the job.

While many families apparated, flooed, or portkeyed directly to the platform, many more enjoyed the novelty of going through the station and barrier. And it seemed that every one of them, student and parent alike, wanted to stop and shake his hand to congratulate and thank him for his defeat of Voldemort and the Death Eaters alike.

It made for a long couple of hours and Harry found himself frequently checking his new watch (one which had once belonged to Mrs. Weasley's brother Fabien) between shaking hands and directing people through to the platform.

He was just thanking Merlin that there was only a quarter of an hour before the train left when a harsh voice reached his ears.

"Hurry up freak! The sooner we get to this train of yours, the sooner we can find someone to take custody of you and I can be wash of this whole business."

Harry immediately turned, half expecting to find his Uncle Vernon escorting someone to the Hogwarts Express. Instead of his uncle, however, Harry immediately noticed a rather weedy but well-kept looking man marching furiously towards where he stood near the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"I don't understand why they can't just use a regular platform like normal people." The man's voice continued to grate against Harry's ears as he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Well come on then, hurry up!"

It wasn't until the man shifted a bit that Harry was able to see who he was barking at. Several paces behind the man, a rather small and frightened looking girl was dragging a battered looking suitcase, attempting to keep up with the man's longer strides.

"Hurry _up_, girl! If you miss that train, I'll leave you here!" The girl whimpered in fear, her eyes never leaving the ground as she caught up to the man leading her through the train station. The man had just begun to raise his hand in order to slap the girl when Harry decided that he had had enough.

"Is there a problem here?" Harry's voice cut through the bustle and noise of the train station as he stepped toward the two. If he weren't so furious he probably would have chuckled at how cliché he sounded. As it was he couldn't help but glare at the man who still had his hand raised above the child's head.

With a start the thin man spun around before quickly dropping his arm. His eyes narrowed as he took in Harry's presence. "What's it to you? Who are you?"

Harry took a moment to raise himself up to his full height and did his best to project a menacing aura. "I am Lord Potter, the Earl Black."

It seemed that the man didn't know what to make of that declaration as he simply spluttered for a minute before he noticed the crest on Harry's jacket, causing his eyes to re-narrow. "You're one of them! You're one of those fre–."

"Finish that word and I'll turn you into a toad." Harry quickly cut the man off. The man straightened up as though he had been struck and Harry took a moment to look down at the girl. He met her eyes for a brief moment and he winked at her before she turned her head back toward the ground. Harry cut the man off again as the other opened his mouth to say something Harry was very sure was going to be rather rude. "Are you off to Hogwarts for your first year?"

The girl looked back up at him and her eyes flickered towards her traveling companion before she nodded timidly. "Yes, sir."

Harry gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "That's wonderful. I remember the first time I –."

Harry was cut off as the man reasserted himself into the conversation. "Are you a teacher there, then? I need someone to sign these."

He shoved a small sheaf of paperwork in Harry's hands and took a step back, though from fright or disgust, Harry wasn't sure.

Taking a look through the paperwork, Harry quickly determined that the man was most likely not a relative (thank Merlin for small favors) of the girl, a Mackenzie Lynn Williams, but an employee of the orphanage she lived at. It seemed that the orphanage was more than happy to turn over custody of Mackenzie to someone at Hogwarts so she wouldn't have to return to them.

Disgust filled Harry, almost completely replacing the anger he had felt at the man's earlier actions. Flashbacks of his own childhood as an outcast in his own home filled his mind as he glared at the man.

"Very well, I'll see to it that the Headmistress sees these." Harry promised himself that more than just McGonagoll would hear about this man's treatment of Ms. Williams.

"Not good enough. I need those signed by a responsible adult before I can hand her over." The man seemed to have regained his confidence in the face of finally being done with Mackenzie and Harry felt his disgust deepen.

As was his traditional method of operating, Harry barely took a moment to think about the situation before finding the nearest smooth wall. He quickly signed the documents at all the indicated places with an engraved fountain pen that had been a gift from his Gringotts account manager and then drew his wand with a flick of his wrist in order to make a duplicate copy, which he promptly folded and placed inside his back trouser pocket. The other copy was rather forcefully shoved into the orphanage worker's hands.

"There, it's done. Now leave."

The man didn't even take a second to question whether Harry was even old enough to legally take responsibility for a child before turning and making his way out of the train station. Harry watched the man leave as he took several deep breaths, trying to calm the raging of his blood. Only when he was certain that none of his anger towards the man and orphanages in general was revealed on his face did he look back at Mackenzie, who was still staring at the floor.

"Well then, Mackenzie. My name is Harry." Harry crouched down in front of her, taking care to smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, sir." Harry received only the briefest of eye contact from her before she turned back toward the ground.

With a small sigh, Harry wondered what it was that he'd gotten himself into this time.

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**AN:** In case you missed the note at the top, this story starts where my other story "An Anticlimactic End" ( s/9503810/1/An-Anticlimactic-End) finishes. "Anticlimactic End" was originally going to be a one-shot and then it became the launching point for multiple stories I wanted to write, which is why it is also staying as a separate "story" on .

It was pointed out that this sort of follows the whole over-done "Harry as an heir" theme, but all truth be told, I needed him to be rich for the stories I'm writing as follow-ups to this story. I tried to temper it a bit by acknowledging that the Potters had no titles (but had enough money to create a well-off trust account for Harry) and by pointing out that the Blacks were in cannon a "Noble and Most Ancient House", a term which is similar to the "The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle", an order of chivalry associated with Scotland - so I figured it would be okay to give the Blacks a title without a place-name (i.e. being the Duke of York or some-such). Thanks to u/ChocolateTeapot for catching my typos and errors.

This story obliviously has a lot in common with and was greatly inspired by u/BlueRosesAtMidnight's ( u/272385/BlueRosesAtMidnight ) story called "The Little Child To Lead Him" ( s/3123443/1/The-Little-Child-to-Lead-Him). I want to acknowledge that writer along with their story and plan on writing "Forging Family" as a tribute to their ideas. The young girl that Harry just met, Mackenzie Lynn Williams, even takes her name from Allyn Louise Williams.


	2. Ride To Hogwarts

Chapter Two: Ride to Hogwarts

King's Cross Station, London – September 1st, 1997

Harry would have loved to take a bit more time to think about what exactly it was that he had just done, but unfortunately the time displayed on the clock behind Mackenzie firmly reminded him that the train was soon to depart.

Gently taking Mackenzie's shoulder (and ignoring her all too telling flinch as he did so), Harry explained about how one got onto the hidden platform before leading her through the barrier and then hustling her through the crowd of friends and family waving and calling their goodbyes to departing loved ones.

They just barely managed to step onto the train with Harry lifting Mackenzie's suitcase off the platform as the conductor let loose with the final whistle. It actually turned out to be an opportune time for the two to begin looking for a compartment as most of the students were waving to their families as the train began to pull out of the station, leaving the corridor relatively empty.

Allowing Mackenzie to lead the way, Harry gently guided her along the carriage while he pulled her suitcase behind him. "Go ahead and let me know when you find somewhere you want to sit and I'll put your suitcase up on the rack for you."

A quiet 'yes, sir' was the only reply he got as Mackenzie began glancing into compartments down the length of the train. They continued from carriage to carriage and Harry noticed several compartments that looked to house only two or three other first year-looking children, but the young girl in front of him passed them by.

Harry was about to say something, given that they were now in the last carriage, when Mackenzie finally stopped and stepped into a compartment. Harry followed her in only to find that it was completely empty.

_I should have known she would look for an empty one_. Harry thought with an internal sigh. _Didn't I do the same thing my first year?_

Harry turned toward his young companion (_ward_ he corrected himself). "Are you sure this is where you want to sit? I imagine we could find some other first years if you wanted some company."

Something flashed across her face as she looked at him through her hair. Whatever it was, it was too fast for Harry to catch.

"This is fine." Was all she said.

"Okay, if you're sure." Nodding his head to her, Harry began lifting her suitcase up towards the luggage rack. "I'll just put this up here then. Did you want anything out of it?"

"No, sir."

"Alright." Once the suitcase was tucked securely way, Harry made his way towards the carriage door. "Is there anything else you need before I go?"

Mackenzie opened her mouth and closed it promptly before looking back at the ground. After another moment of silence her quiet voice reached Harry's ears. "Will you… will you stay with me?"

Harry paused with his hand on the compartment door. Of course she would want him to stay, what had he been thinking? Harry had been so wrapped up in thinking about the prefects meeting he and Padma were supposed to lead and trying desperately hard to avoid thinking about the fact that he had all but adopted a first year that he hadn't even considered what would be going on in Mackenzie's head at the moment. He hadn't even asked her if she was okay with him taking custody of her. Heck, he wasn't even sure that she understood what _had_ happened.

_I'd throw a fit if something like that happened to me without my approval. But then again, maybe not if it had been six years ago._

It only took Harry a second to recover before giving Mackenzie the warmest smile he could. "Of course I will, I'm not sure what I was thinking. You and I have some things to talk about don't we? Just let me send a quick message."

"You will?" Mackenzie looked up in surprise only to let out a giant gasp as a bright slivery light filled the compartment. Where a second before the compartment had been empty save the two of them, it was now filled by a large almost see-through deer sporting a great-big set of antlers. "What is that?"

Harry chuckled and mumbled a few words that Mackenzie couldn't hear before the stag nodded its head and stepped out of the compartment, passing right through the closed door.

"That is called a patronus. It's created with the _Patronus Charm_ and I can use it to send messages." Harry was rather pleased with his ability to silently conjure the magical construct and was very thankful that Kingsley had taken the time this past summer to teach him how to use it to send messages.

"Can you teach me?" Mackenzie was now looking at him with open hope and curiosity shining in her eyes. Harry was taken back at how much different she looked now than when she timidly tried to hid away.

"Yes, I will." Mackenzie gave a small gasp as though she hadn't expected him to say yes and Harry felt his heart break just a little. "But it takes quite a bit of magical power and control, so it will have to wait a couple years for you to strengthen up before you're able to do it. Once you're in your third year, if you still want me to, I'll make sure you know how to cast it."

Mackenzie's face faltered a little bit at the knowledge she would have to wait so long, but her excitement at the prospect of learning the spell was still apparent. "Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Mhmm." Harry nodded. "But right now, I think we have more important things to talk about."

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Out in the hall students scrambled out of the way as the large imposing form of Prongs made its way down the line of carriages.

The last prefects had just made their way into the first compartment and Padma was beginning to wonder where Harry was when several people started at Prongs' large antlered head appearing through the, again closed, doorway.

"Hey, that's Harry's – ." The rest of Hermione's statement was cut off as Harry's voice filled the compartment. His voice was soft and it was clear that he had been whispering when the message was recorded, but it was projected loudly enough for everyone to hear it.

"Padma, I'm sorry but a situation has come up with a first-year muggle-born student. I'm going to stay with them until they get settled down. I'll make it up to you and give you the details later."

With his message delivered, the glowing form of Harry's patronus faded away, leaving the compartment somewhat less bright than before. Padma simply gave a small shrug and turned towards the other dozen students sitting with her.

"Well then, I guess we can get started. I want to –."

This time it was Hermione's turn to do the cutting off. "Wait, we're going to start without him? Harry should really be here; he's the Head Boy. And what if he needs help? We should probably adjourn until the situation is resolved so we can assist him."

After it began to look like Hermione wasn't going to stop, Padma raised a calming hand and interrupted gently. "Hermione, I'm sure everything is fine. If Harry needed help, I trust that he would have asked for it."

Hermione's facial expression clearly displayed her lack of the same trust. "I'm not sure. You haven't known him for as long as I have. He doesn't really ask for help."

Again Padma gave a small shrug. "I've gotten to know him pretty well over the past month, and even if he won't ask for help, I have faith that he can handle whatever it is. He is the Head Boy after all."

Hermione didn't look as convinced, but gave a small nod and didn't say anything else. Turning back to the other prefects who had just been watching the by-play questly, Padma began her speech again.

"As I was saying, I want to introduce myself to those who don't know me, I'm Padma Patil and I was in Ravenclaw House…."

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Mackenzie's expression immediately fell and she went back to staring at the floor. Before Harry could even begin to figure out what had caused this rapid change, her quiet voice again reached his ears. "I'm sorry, sir."

"About what? What's wrong?"

Mackenzie gave a small sniffle, clearly trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry that Mr. Filch dumped me on you. I'm sorry I'm a burden."

"Hey, don't say that. No one dumped you on anyone. Come here, sit down." Harry quickly remove his suit jacket and took a seat on one of the benches, pulling Mackenzie down next to him. She flinched rather violently at his touch, but he gently tucked her under his arm and held her to his side. "Was Mr. Filch that man you were with at the train station?"

"Yes, sir." Mackenzie gave another sniffle as Harry contemplated the similarities between her Mr. Filch and Filch the caretaker at Hogwarts. _I'll have to warn her about him_.

"Well, I can tell you right now that he clearly wasn't a nice man and if he said that you were a burden, it was an obvious lie. I am more than happy that I rescued you from him."

While Harry wasn't sure what part of her statement did it, no sooner had he spoken than Mackenzie seemed to loose control. Her body shook with loud sobs as tears ran down her face. Harry pulled her in tighter to him and she quickly buried her face in his chest. After throwing up several locking and silencing charms on the compartment door, Harry simply sat there and held her, rocking her slightly while he whispered soft reassurances to her.

He normally wasn't any good with crying girls, or emotional people in general, but this was something he could relate to – what he hoped was a feeling of safety and relief after many years of neglect and abuse.

They sat there for some time before Mackenzie was able to calm down and eventually her sobs quieted and the wet spot on his vest stopped growing. It wasn't long afterwards that Harry was beginning to wonder if she had fallen asleep when she spoke up.

"Are you really a lord?"

Harry couldn't help but to chuckle softly. His quiet laughter shook his body and Mackenzie unconsciously tried to bury herself deeper into his embrace. "Actually yes, I am. I guess I haven't even told you my name yet, have I?"

"No, sir."

"I'm sorry about that. How rude of me." Harry chuckled again at the fact that he actually got to introduce himself to someone who didn't know anything about it. "My name is Harry James Potter-Black, and I did indeed inherit the title 'the Earl Black' from my godfather."

Harry could hear her softly repeating his name before she suddenly jumped back away from him. Without meeting his eyes, she turned her head and looked back at the floor. "I'm sorry, sir."

Harry, completely perplexed at what had happened couldn't keep confusion from coloring his voice. "About what?"

"Your suit. I ruined your suit." Mackenzie gestured towards his chest and the large wet spot there. Mackenzie whispered several more apologies and scrunched herself up as small as she could. For someone with Harry's past, it was clear that she was bracing for either a physical or verbal blow, perhaps both. Harry again felt the tinges of anger stir deep inside of him.

"Hey, look at me." Harry waited for her to turn back towards him, the uncertainty obvious in her eyes. "It's no problem. I can spell it clean again – just watch."

Slowly so as to not frighten the girl further, Harry pulled his wand and made a circle and sweeping motion around and across the wet area on his chest. "_Exaresco_. See, no harm done."

And indeed, the moisture was wicked cleanly out of the vest, leaving no evidence behind. His calmness and magical demonstration appeared to be enough to appease Mackenzie because her eyes quickly lit up with the same curiosity and wonder that she had shown after he cast his patronus.

"Was that a cleaning charm? I read about them in the charms book, but I don't recognize that one…."

And with that, she was off. Regardless of how downtrodden she had been with her living situation, she was still filled with the childish wonder in regards to everything magical that Harry remembered feeling his first time on the Hogwarts express. Hopefully she would be able to enjoy the innocence of magic for longer than he had.

With an internal promise to himself that he would do all he could to preserve the wonder and joy practically radiating from his young charge, Harry began explaining the details of the drying charm he'd just used. From there they spoke a bit more about the _Patronus Charm_ and several other spells that came up from her questions or ones that she had read about. Harry was glad to see just how excited she was about learning magic and he could definitely see her going into Ravenclaw.

His comment as such led to him explaining about the house system, the sorting, and Hogwarts in general. They continued to talk until the trolley lady stopped by and Harry took the opportunity to purchase a little bit of everything for Mackenzie to try. Once the trolley lady left, Harry resealed the compartment door. "Dobby."

With a small crack, Dobby suddenly appeared in the compartment with them. Harry almost chuckled as he thought again about how Dobby had ended up in his service. The enthusiastic house-elf had waited all of a minute after Harry left Gringotts on his seventeenth birthday to find him. Now that Harry was head of his houses, he was able to take on house elves, which Dobby asked him to do. It took more time to negotiate salary and time off (Harry always wanting to give more and Dobby asking for less) than it did to actually bond the elf to House Potter. Harry was especially glad that he had done so after Kreacher was found dead in the Hogwarts elves quarters clutching the now horcrux-free locket that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin.

Mackenzie gave a great gasp when Dobby appeared and Harry allowed them to both stare at each other in curiosity for a moment before coughing to get their attention. "Dobby, I'd like you to meet Miss Mackenzie Lynn Williams. I've taken her on as my ward, I'm her guardian, and I'd like you to listen out for her just as you do for me. Mackenzie, this is Dobby, he's a house elf that works for me and if you need anything just call his name."

Dobby nodded enthusiastically towards Harry and then bowed lowly towards Mackenzie. "It be honor to serve the Miss Kenzies. Young miss must be great witch to have the great Harry Potter as her guardian."

Mackenzie clearly wasn't sure what to make of the situation if her wide eyes were anything to go by. Harry could certainly understand where she was coming from, thinking back to his own first encounter with the elf. After taking a moment to chuckle Harry quickly rescued Mackenzie from the elf's attentions.

"Dobby, can you bring lunch for the two of us. I've just bought some sweets, but I think it best to have a filling meal first." Harry had looked over his new ward while she had been crying earlier and was more than a little angry at how small and underweight she seemed to be. She reminded him too much of himself six years previous and that thought continued to make him uncomfortable.

With a quick 'yes, sir Master Harry Potter, sir', Dobby popped out and then back in again with two loaded trays of food. He'd barely been gone for a second and Harry was almost afraid to ask where Dobby had gotten two ready-made meals when he'd only been expecting to serve for one. After making sure they each had anything they needed, Dobby popped back out again to work in the Hogwarts kitchens.

Harry explained a little more about his unique relationship with Dobby and about house-elves in general, but for the most part the two sat and ate in silence next to each other with their respective trays resting on their laps. Once Harry was convinced that Mackenzie had eaten enough and then another portion or two (_when did I turn into Mrs. Weasley?_) he brought out the sweets he had bought for them to share.

He'd just gotten done explaining the dangers of Bertie-Botts Every Flavored Beans when Mackenzie's mumbled voice reached his ears.

"What was that?" Harry asked, turning to look at Mackenzie. He was a little concerned that she was still looking rather apprehensive about everything and was timidly facing the flood.

"Thank you," she repeated. "For becoming my guardian. You didn't have to, 'specially with not knowing anything about me. I was… I was afraid I was going to get kicked out and have nowhere to go."

She sniffled again trying to hold back more tears and her attitude and words ripped into Harry's heart. He quickly pushed aside their lunch trays and the remains of their sweets before pulling her back into his side. He was lightened to notice that she didn't resist at all this time and quickly burrowed into him.

"I knew plenty enough about you. I knew you were going to Hogwarts and I knew that Filch fellow was obviously a cruel man." Harry said, repeating his sentiments from earlier. "And I knew that you were in a situation very much like the one that I was in when I was your age."

"Really?" She looked up at him, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Yes, really." He nodded and after a moment's silence looking out the window, he began to tell her about his time growing up with the Dursleys.

The more he spoke of his early years, the more relaxed she grew. Harry was overjoyed and internally crowed when he was able to make her laugh at the trouble he had gotten into because of magic. He continued to make her laugh and she continued to lose more of her shyness as he told her of all his, Ron, and Hermione's adventures at Hogwarts. She begged him to tell her more stories about the school and teachers, and of course, the houses.

Harry watched her come more and more out of her shell with delight. He had been so afraid that she was as broken as he had been at her age, but even if she was, like him she now had the chance to grow and heal.

Some time later, she had closed her eyes and was now sleeping soundly; the movement of the train, the excitement of the day, as well as the heavy lunch had tired them both out. As he held her sleeping in his arms he found himself wondering what everyone's reactions would be to him taking on a ward, not that he cared too much. He had impulsively done it, true, but he wasn't going to feel sorry for doing it. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he had left her there - that man had been killing her in a sense, taking away her spirit and breaking her down a little more each day.

Even so, not for the first time since he had signed those papers he wondered if he was going crazy. He had no experience raising children, not that she really counted as a young child or needed much raising, but still, she had many formative years ahead of her and would need a guardian of some sort to look out for her. With any luck, she wouldn't have to grow up as fast as he had.

But the fact of the matter was that he had almost no experience with kids. Sure he was around younger kids at school, but like at any school, the older kids tended to ignore the younger ones. And she was a girl! An almost teenage girl, which meant she would be dealing with…feminine problems…in the next couple of years. Not to mention bra shopping! How was he supposed to deal with that?!

_I guess that's what Mrs. Tonks and Mrs. Weasley are for_. Harry thought to himself. _I don't even want to think about what happens when she starts getting interested in boys._

She was rather pretty, he thought, taking another moment to study her. She had dark auburn curls, with red highlights that glistened in the afternoon sun. Her eyes were a pale brown. She had no freckles to speak of, with clear, pale skin. She was small for her age, and Harry had no doubt it was from the abuse and neglect she had suffered at the orphanage.

"Don't even go there, Harry." He muttered to himself, knowing that thinking about 'Mr. Filch' and the other adults at the orphanage would only make him angry. Instead, with a couple flicks of his wand, Harry transfigured his suit jacket into a blanket and conjured a pillow for Mackenzie to use. After making sure that she was settled comfortably on one of the benches, and casting a spell to alert him if she woke up before he got back, Harry slipped out of the compartment as quietly as he could.

"Dobby."

With a crack the elf was next to him in the empty corridor, looking just as excited to serve his 'master Harry Potter, sir' as he always did. "What can Dobby be doing for the great Harry Potter, sir?"

Harry grinned and shook his head at the elf's antics. For all of his efforts, Harry knew that he would never be able to convince the elf to just call him 'Harry'. "I wanted to thank you for lunch, it was delicious."

"Yous very welcome! Dobby is happy to serve the great Harry Potter and his Miss Kenzies!" Dobby's head appeared to be at risk of flopping off with how violently he was nodding.

"That's great Dobby." Harry, smiling, pulled the folded sheaf of paperwork out of his back pocket. "I was wondering if you could take this Ted Tonks? It's the guardianship paperwork for Mackenzie, and I want to make sure it gets sorted quickly and correctly. If he has any questions, let him know to contact me."

"Yes, sir, right away sir!" And with that Dobby clenched the paperwork tightly in his hands and disappeared with another crack.

Shaking his head again, Harry stepped back into the compartment he and Mackenzie were sharing. Harry couldn't imagine there was much more than an hour or so remaining before their arrival at Hogsmeade, so he removed his school robe from the Mokeskin bag that had been a seventeenth birthday gift from Hagrid. Hanging it from the luggage rack, he quietly pulled down Mackenzie's suitcase, pursing his lips at its shoddy condition. The insides weren't much better. Everything was clearly second hand, and there were several items on the school supply list missing. It was obvious that the orphanage either wasn't able or wasn't willing to provide Mackenzie with the funds she needed for school.

Luckily, that wasn't their job anymore and Harry told himself that the first weekend he had free, he would take Mackenzie down to Hogsmeade to buy the rest of her things. Shoving the well-worn textbooks aside, Harry pulled out an even more worn robe. It appeared to be Mackenzie's only one, and it was far from good shape, but with a couple of flicks of his wand, Harry was able to make sure that it at least was clean, warm, and wouldn't fall apart on her.

This done, Harry gently coaxed Mackenzie awake. Smiling at her befuddled state, Harry directed her to the bathroom down the corridor so she could freshen up and change into her uniform. Once she was back, he told of his plans in regards to getting her proper school things and that until then she could use what she needed of his. Harry did his best to convince her not to be embarrassed about what she had or to feel bad about him spending money on her.

"Remember how I told you I'm an earl?" Harry waited until she looked up at him from where she'd been staring at the ground. "Well, my godfather gave me quite a bit of money with that title, so I have more than I could ever spend on myself. And if I can't use it to buy my ward some nice school things, then what can I spend it on?"

The following tackle-like hug took Harry by surprise but he was again overjoyed to see Mackenzie working herself further out of her shell. Their embrace was interrupted by the speaker overheard announcing they were fifteen minutes away from the station.

"We're almost to Hogwarts." Harry told her as she stepped back from him and settled nervously on the bench. "You can get off with me but I'll have to stick around the station to make sure everyone makes it off and into the carriages for the older students. You, along with the other first years, will go down to where Hagrid will be waiting. I'll make sure you make it to him and then He'll take you all across the lake to the castle where you'll wait a little to be sorted."

"Will I see you at dinner?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to be sorted into a house first. I also promised some of my friends that I would sit with them tonight." Harry gave her an apologetic grin. "If you're sorted into Gryffindor, you can come sit by me during the feast. If you're in another house, I'll track you down before you leave the Great Hall after dessert."

"I hope I'm not in another house, cause then I won't get to see you," she looked down.

"Sure you will. As Head Boy, I'll be rotating at what table I sit at for meals, so you'll likely see me pretty often. And we'll have the weekends and evenings to see each other too. So no worries. Everything's going to be fine. I did want to tell you, though, that I think it would be best if you didn't tell anyone about our relationship just yet."

Because he'd been in her same position once and had known to expect it, Harry easily caught the look of betrayal and embarrassment that crossed her face. With the warmest smile he could manage, Harry crouched down in front of her and gently lifted her chin with his hand.

"Remember that I told you I was kind of famous among the magical world? Well, I'm actually really famous and there are still people out there who want to hurt me."

"From that war you said ended this summer?" Mackenzie was back to looking at him with wide eyes, but there was still some hurt in her expression.

"Yes, from the war. If people find out that I'm your guardian, it's not a big deal, but I'd rather you have a chance to settle in and get used to things without dealing with the trouble that comes along with being associated with me. I'd also feel a lot better if I knew that you were safe because people didn't know you're my ward. It's not because I'm ashamed of you or don't care about you, but because I'm afraid that people will hurt you to hurt me."

After a moment of silence where they simply stared into each other's eyes, one trying to convey sincerity and the other looking for it, Mackenzie finally relaxed and gave him a smile. "I understand."

Harry gave a relieved smile and quickly hugged Mackenzie to him, happy to notice that she returned the embrace warmly. They waited a few more minutes for the train to come to a complete stop in the station, throwing their robes on and getting ready to arrive.

"All right, come along then." With another few flicks of his wand, Harry undid all the charms he'd put up on the door and walked out of the compartment, smiling when she slipped her hand into his much bigger one.

He sent her down the platform to where a smiling and waving Hagrid stood with the other first years, and began directing students off of the train and into the waiting carriages. Between moments of accepting more congratulations and shaking hands, Harry found himself amazed at how protective he felt of Mackenzie, even after only a few hours of knowing her. Hermione was right - he did have a 'saving-people thing'.

And with a bright smile, Harry realized that he wouldn't change that for anything.

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**AN:** The spell "_Exaresco_" came from "The Complete Encyclopedia of Wizarding Charms, Hexes, Jinxes, and Spells By: ME" found on the Harry Potter Fanon Wikia ( .com) and originally appeared in the _Alexandra Quick_ series written by Inverarity ( u/1374917/Inverarity).

Also, some of the train ride is somewhat similar to that found in "A Child To Lead Him" (see Ch1 AN), but I really liked the way the author described the trip and I wanted to do my best to preserve the same feelings that they invoked when I first read it.


	3. Settling In

Chapter Three: Settling In

Hogwarts – September 1st, 1997

Harry climbed into his bed with a small sigh of relief. It was already twenty 'til midnight and after the emotional rollercoaster he'd ridden all day, he was more than ready to get some (at least in his opinion) well-deserved sleep.

The sorting ceremony and welcome feast had gone smoothly and without any surprises or interruptions. As promised he'd sat with Ron and Hermione, and as he'd privately predicted, the latter had immediately attempted to interrogate him on where he'd been during the train ride. Harry wasn't exactly sure why but he didn't feel like he was ready to tell them about Mackenzie just yet. He really wasn't sure how his oldest friends would react, and he wasn't prepared for the possible condemnation he might receive for his rash actions. It had taken some broad statements and near-lies, but he'd eventually distracted Hermione and she had been forced to accept that he'd simply been busy with "Head Boy duties".

Once the first years were led in by Septima Vector, the arithamacy professor, Harry had watched the sorting with general interest. According to Professor McGonagall this was supposed to be the largest class of first years in quite some time. As always the process seemed to drag on until Professor Vector finally made it into the 'W's and Harry internally perked up as Mackenzie's name was called.

He would later observe that like him, Mackenzie was a bit of a "hat-stall" and took more time than anyone else to sort. Even so, he was quite happy to see her get sorted in with the Ravenclaws like he'd hoped and he made sure to clap just as loud as anyone.

The rest of the evening seemed to blur by after that. As the new Headmistress, Professor McGonagall introduced their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor (Kingsley Shacklebolt), their new muggle-studies professor (the previous professor, Charity Burbage, had been one of the last casualties in the war), as well as their replacement transfiguration professor (a tall, no-nonsense type middle-aged woman who left Harry wondering about a possible familial relation to their former transfiguration professor).

During the feast Harry was able to surreptitiously send McKenzie several smiles and a couple of thumbs up. He was glad to see that she seemed to have fit right in with the other Ravenclaw first year girls and was animatedly chatting with the ones to either side of her, frequently gesturing to the charmed ceiling or to where the hat was sitting at the side of the hall waiting to be taken back to the Headmistress' office. Once the feast drew to a close Harry was even able to give her shoulder a quick squeeze before the Ravenclaw prefects ushered all of the first years out of the Great Hall and off to their tower.

After making sure that everyone found their way to their common rooms and that no one had questions that couldn't wait until the following morning, Harry and Padma performed several sets of patrols of the castle just to make sure no one was out and about getting into trouble. Luckily things held to tradition and it seemed that everyone was too excited about catching up with friends or just plain too exhausted on their first day back to sneak out after curfew.

During their walk Harry had apologized again for missing the prefect's meeting, but Padma simply waved it off after asking if he was alright and said that they had to be flexible in their positions and that she trusted him not to skip out without a good reason. Harry had given a bit of a chuckle at that and then promised to tell her the entire story during their meeting with McGonagall the next morning. Harry also couldn't help but feel a bit of warmth blossom in his chest at Padma's declaration of faith in him and he silently vowed to be the best Head Boy that he could.

And so it was a very weary and content Head Boy who lay down to rest after a long first day back at the castle. On-the-spot guardianship claiming of a first year student aside, they'd already made it through the train ride, sorting ceremony, and welcome feast without any major problems or issues. Harry's last thought before sleep took him was that maybe this was a sign for the quiet year he'd always wanted.

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Of course Harry should have known he'd jinx the whole thing by simply thinking the day had gone too smoothly.

Harry was wide-awake with adrenaline pumping into his veins the very same second Dobby loudly popped into his room sometime just after one in the morning.

"Master Harry Potter sirs, your Miss Kenzies is needing yous. Miss Kenzies says to be getting yous right away!"

Harry was out of bed and halfway to his bedroom door still in his pajama shirt and bottoms before Dobby had finished speaking. "Where is she, Dobby?"

"She be in the Ravens tower, sir! I can be showing yous, Harry Potter sirs!"

With that Harry rushed through the common area he shared with Padma and all but sprinted down the halls and up staircases towards the Ravenclaw tower, all manor of horrible and near-impossible scenarios running through his mind. He could hear Dobby's rapidly pattering feet behind him along with the occasional double-pop indicating Dobby was having to use his magic to keep up with Harry's longer strides.

Of course, the thought of simply asking Dobby what exactly was wrong didn't occur to Harry as he made his way through the castle in a near panic.

Harry barely slowed down once they reached the bronze knocker guarding entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. He simply shouted the password he and Padma had in order to get into any of the house common rooms and squeezed his way in as soon as enough space appeared for him to do so.

With a final pop, Dobby once again appeared at Harry's side. "This way, this way!"

Dobby led him up the spiral staircase leading to the female dormitories and Harry thanked Merlin that he was the Head Boy, else the stairs would have turned into a slide and denied him access. After moving past several doorways, the two stopped in front of a closed heavy oak door with a bronze plaque with "First Years" etched into it.

Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for whatever he might find inside, Harry knocked strongly on the door before gently easing it open.

"Hello?"

He immediately noticed all of the first year girls huddled together on one of the beds and he took a moment to realize that even though this incoming class was large, only four girls had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Harry wasn't at all surprised to see one of the girls crying and being comforted by the other three. What did surprise him, however, is that it wasn't Mackenzie. In his many scenarios he'd thought of during the quick trip from his rooms, many of them had featured a crying Mackenzie either being attacked by an angry Peeves or being kidnapped by Death Eater sympathizers.

Of course all of these thoughts left him when the three girls not crying turned to look at him and he met Mackenzie's wide eyes. The feeling of relief and trust that Harry would make everything better now that he was there was so profound and easily read on her face that Harry feared his own knees might weaken in the face of such emotion.

"Mackenzie, are you alright? What's going on?"

"Harry." Mackenzie's quiet exclamation could only just be heard and she almost seemed to be in shock to see him in their room. "You came!"

"Of course I did." Harry chuckled lightly before closing the dormitory door behind him. While he still wasn't sure what had happened, it was clear that no one was in immediate danger and the adrenaline was slowly leaving his blood stream. He made his way over to the bed holding the four girls, two of whom had already gone back to comforting the fourth. "Dobby said you needed me, now what happened?"

Before Mackenzie could explain, however, the girl crying let out a much louder sob. "I want to go home! Where's my mummy? I want to go home!"

_Oh._

Professor McGonagall had warned him and Padma that this happened sometimes and that the new prefects should be warned to. Usually it took a few days for students to get homesick, but sometimes those who weren't used to being away from their parents would wake up the first night or two and panic when they didn't recognize where they were.

Without any conscious thought on his part, Harry slipped in between the crying girl and her dorm-mates and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest much like he had for Mackenzie earlier that day.

"Shhhhh, it's okay. You're going to be fine. Just take deep breaths." Harry rocked the girl gently as he rubbed one hand across her back and continued to whisper reassurances. The other girls sat around them and Harry gave a small smile as he felt Mackenzie snuggle up to his side.

After a few minutes the girl began to calm down and it wasn't long until she was wiping away her tears and pulling back away from him. Her face was red with embarrassment and Harry could only imagine how mortifying it must be to breakdown in the middle of the night not only in front of your new friends, but also an older student.

With the warmest smile he could manage Harry tried to catch the now bashful girl's eye. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you." Was the quiet reply he received. The girl was still doing her best to look anywhere but the other four students and one house-elf in the room.

After another moment of watching the girl, Harry looked around at the other three first years. They were still watching their dorm-mate closely, seemingly torn between ignoring what had just happened to save her some embarrassment and trying to comfort her some more. Worst off in Harry's eyes was that all four were clearly wide-awake.

Knowing that they would have a tough enough first day of class the following morning without being sleep deprived, Harry gave a small cough to gather everyone's attention. "How about some hot chocolate before everyone turns back in for the night?"

Getting a round of enthusiastic agreement, Harry sent Dobby off to the kitchens for the hot chocolate and to the hospital wing for some calming drought. Within a handful of moments each of them were sitting on their beds (with Harry sharing Mackenzie's) nursing their warm drinks.

After a couple moments of silence, Harry cleared his throat again. "I already know Mackenzie, but I don't know anyone else's names. I'm Harry and I'm the Head Boy this year."

One of the girls' head snapped up wide-eyed to look at him. "Are you Harry Potter?"

Harry gave the girl a warm smile and took another sip of his drink before answering. "Yes, I am. What's your name?"

"Wow. You're Harry Potter." If possible the girl's eyes seemed to get even wider as she thought about the fact that _THE Harry Potter_ was currently sitting in her dorm room. It took her several moments before she processed what he'd asked of her. "Oh… sorry, I'm Katie Holmes."

"Hi, Katie. It's nice to meet you."

After another confirmation of his identity and a couple awkward moments of silent hero worship from two of the girls who had heard about him before, Harry quickly moved introductions along. It turned out that Katie was a pureblood who almost wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts. Harry ending Voldemort's reign of terror so abruptly changed her parents' minds. The girl who'd been upset was named Samantha Reams and was also a pureblood. She admitted that this was the first time she'd been away from her parents overnight and was quickly reassured by her new dorm-mates and Harry that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. The last girl that Harry didn't know was named Karen Wolby and was a muggleborn from northern London.

Harry quickly learned that all four of them were quintessential Ravenclaws and were more than willing to quiz him on everything he knew about Hogwarts, classes, and magic in general. It was only once the calming drought really started kicking in that he was shown mercy.

"Alright, I think that's enough for tonight. Big day tomorrow and we all need our sleep."

Karen and Samantha looked as though they were about to protest but were cut off when all four girls gave big yawns. They all giggled a little and quickly acquiesced as Harry took their empty mugs and ushered them under their covers.

One-by-one they all fell asleep and Harry was just about to leave when a quiet voice caught his attention.

"Harry?"

Turning around, Harry quietly padded over to Mackenzie's bed and kneeled down next to her head so she could whisper to him.

"Thanks for coming. I didn't know what else to do."

Harry smiled and ran his hand through her hair. "It's no problem. I'm glad you called Dobby and had him get me. It's what I want you to do anytime you think you need help, okay?"

Mackenzie yawned and nodded her head sleepily – her eyes already closing as sleep took her. Harry gave the sleeping girl one last smile before standing and leaving the room.

It was ten minutes after two in the morning when Harry made it back to his rooms and as tired as he was he simply flopped down onto his bed, a smile tugging on his lips. He didn't even stir when Dobby popped in, vanished the empty hot chocolate mugs, and dragged the duvet over his sleeping form.

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Even with his late night and interrupted sleep the night before, Harry woke up bright and early the next morning feeling completely refreshed and ready for the day. He and Padma met in their common room and made it down to breakfast before most of the staff and hardly any of the other students made it. After meeting the girls last night, Harry decided he was going to sit with the Ravenclaw first years while Padma decided that she was going to sit with at the Hufflepuff table.

Each of the prefects leading first years down had been instructed to check in with either Harry or Padma to make sure everyone made it down to breakfast, so it wasn't long before one of the sixth year Ravenclaws led the group of ten first years over to where he sat at their table. They quickly reported that all of the Ravenclaw first years where now at breakfast before hustling off to sit with their friends.

As the prefect left them Harry turned his attention to the new students standing around and motioned that they should sit down. "Good morning, first years. Feel free to sit down, I promise I don't bite!"

Several of the students chuckled while a couple simply stared at him with wide eyes. He was about to say something before the four girls he'd met yesterday stepped forward, each with a mischievous twinkle in their eyes.

"Good morning, Harry!" The four said in unison.

Their clearly choreographed greeting was followed up with a round of mad giggling and Harry simply gave them a bemused smile while they scrambled for seats around him – two on each side of him with Mackenzie on his immediate left. Their friendly behavior seemed to have snapped the boys out of their hero-induced haze and soon Harry was surrounded by a near swarm of excited and chattering first years.

As soon as the first years got settled, Harry absentmindedly began loading Mackenzie's plate with fruits, scones, and some yogurt, much to the four girls' amusement. "So, how did everyone sleep last night? Any problems finding your beds?"

Getting some vague acknowledgements from the first year boys, Harry finished filling Mackenzie's plate and returned his attentions to his own breakfast. The first years quickly began eating and the conversation rose and ebbed around him. It wasn't long before the steadily rising noise of conversation and eating filling the Great Hall was accompanied by the sounds of dozens of owls winging their way in with the morning's post.

Harry was caught up in enjoying the looks of amazement on the first years' faces and thinking back to his own first experience of mail call at Hogwarts when Mackenzie's gasp drew his attention.

"Look at that one, it's beautiful!" Mackenzie was pointing up into the flurry of owls and it didn't Harry long to spot the splash of pure white amongst the darker browns and grays. Hedwig quickly and gracefully flew down to the Ravenclaw table before alighting onto Harry's shoulder, drawing another gasp from Mackenzie and a couple of the other first years. "Is it yours?"

Harry chuckled at Mackenzie's wide-eyed wonder while he relieved Hedwig of the finely embossed envelope with one hand and stroked her breast feathers with the other. "Yes, this is Hedwig, and _she_ has been a very close friend of mine for a long time now. Hedwig, this is Mackenzie Williams."

"Hi, Hedwig. You're a very pretty owl." Hedwig puffed up as she was wont to do under Mackenzie's praise and any potential offence at being called an 'it' was quickly forgotten. Harry chuckled at his owl's vanity as he fed her several strips of bacon off his plate. A couple more minutes of stroking and compliments later and Hedwig took off with one final squeeze to Harry's shoulder, making her way back to the owlery.

"If any of you want to write to your parents or someone else, let me know and I can ask Hedwig to take your letters for you." Harry looked around at the first years surrounding him. He paused for a moment longer on Samantha to make sure she was listening in. "Writing your parents can help if you're starting to miss them, and I'm sure they'd love to hear from you. You can use school owls if you don't have your own, but Hedwig tends to be quite a bit faster than most owls, so I'd be happy to have her take them. She'll even wait for a reply if your family doesn't have an owl."

A series of excited thanks was his reply as the first years excitedly started chatting about writing home or their families' reactions to owl-mail. Harry could see in the way Samantha's face relaxed that she was relieved and excited with the prospect of receiving a reply from her parents. Perhaps he would talk to Professor McGonagoll about sending them a note. A glance towards Mackenzie led Harry to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze to make sure that she knew he understood how she felt about not having parents to write home to.

The near blinding smile he got back was all he needed to know that she got the message.

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_Lord H. J. Potter-Black_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Hogsmeade, Scotland_

_September 2__nd__, 1997_

_Harry,_

_This letter is to inform you that I have received paperwork regarding your claim of custody and guardianship of one Mackenzie Lynn Williams, born April 16__th__, 1986._

_I have submitted and filed all appropriate documentation on your behalf with both the Ministry of Magic Department of Welfare for Magical Children and the Department of Children's Welfare and Social Services._

_While of majority within the magical world and therefore able to take custody of a minor child, you do not meet the minimum age requirement of twenty-one within the non-magical realm. I have submitted the paperwork for an appeal of special circumstances requesting that you be given custody regardless of your young age. Given your financial capabilities, the fact that Mackenzie will spend most of the next seven years at boarding school, as well as the primacy nature of magical laws when addressing magical subjects, I do not predict the appeal to be denied._

_Regardless, I have done what I can to ensure the process is sped up and hopefully we'll hear back from a judge within the next fortnight._

_Please feel free to let me know if you have any further questions regarding the guardianship process or anything else on your mind._

_Yours in service,_

_Theodore Tonks, MJur_

_PS: Harry, please make sure that you tell Andy about this before she hears about it from the papers. I'll do my best to keep everything quiet, but I don't want to be around when she finds out "the son she never had" was hiding something like this from her. Remember, she is a Black._

Harry reread the letter Hedwig brought him at breakfast as he made his way to the DADA classroom. He couldn't help but think it frankly amazing how quickly Ted Tonks worked. Meeting him and hiring him on as his personal solicitor may have been one of the best decisions Harry had made since coming to Hogwarts.

He'd met the middle-aged man after Tonks The Younger had invited him over to her parents' house the first week of August. As the new Lord Black, Tonks thought he should meet her mother, who was a former Black herself. However no one could have predicted how well Harry and the two elder Tonks' got along from the very beginning.

Ted Tonks was a muggleborn wizard who worked as a solicitor in both the magical and non-magical worlds. Having gone to both a non-magical university and having studied as a legal apprentice in the magical world for a number of years, he was not only very capable but also very well respected. It had only taken a few minutes of him chatting with Harry about the state of the new lord's financial and legal positions for him to offer to represent Harry and help manage his affairs.

Of course it had taken Harry even less time to immediately agree.

And Harry had yet to regret that decision. While the Goblins had managed his liquid capital within Gringotts as well as any financial manager could, there were more assets than just those that sat within the bank and some things needed a more hands on approach. Within two weeks Ted Tonks had gone over every asset, property, contract, and prior commitment of both Houses Potter and Black and put the whole lot into order.

While Andromeda Tonks née Black was not as well trained in legal matters as her husband, she _was_ a daughter of the House of Black and therefore knew more about politics and wizarding society than could be considered healthy. She had immediately fallen in love with the somewhat shy and reserved Harry Potter-Black and spent many hours over the next month teaching him all the things he would need to know as a young lord in magical Britain.

Both of them seemingly fell into the role of confidants and supporters with such ease that Harry was left wondering how he'd gotten by without knowing them. They were both more than willing to listen to and discuss anything he had to talk about from his past with the Dursleys, to his years at Hogwarts, to his doubts and fears about the future. They also freely gave advice and helped him through his problems in such a way that left Harry wondering if this was what having parents was really all about.

Harry shivered as he scanned over Ted's postscript one more time. Mrs. Tonks was indeed a Black (especially so now that Harry had her re-instated) with all the temper and wand ability that came with being a member of the ancient house. Harry decided then and there that Andromeda Tonks would hear about Mackenzie from him, and soon.

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"Mr. Potter, can you stay a moment?"

Harry's head snapped up towards Professor Shaklebolt and gave him a quick nod. The seventh years had just finished their first DADA class with the Auror and Harry could easily classify it as one of the best sessions any of the students had ever had. Shaklebolt spent as much time discussing his practical experiences using the spells and techniques he was covering as he did actually teaching them.

Harry finished packing his things and waved off Ron and Hermione who looked like they were both intending to stay with him. He waited for the rest of the class to stream out of the room before approaching the teacher's desk. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Yeah, Harry. How are things?" Kingsley flashed him a warm smile that Harry returned. The auror seemed relaxed, but there was a tightness around his eyes that Harry recognized as a sign the older man was worried about something.

"I'm alright. It's nice to be back into the wing of things." Harry paused for a moment. "Is there something wrong, Professor?"

Kingsley let out a sigh before leaning back into his chair. "I wanted to let you know that the ministry has been hearing some less-than-friendly chatter about you in the last few days. Some contacts along the lines of Mundungus Fletcher have been reporting that there are some people asking questions about you and how to get at you."

"Do you think they're unmarked Death Eaters?" It had taken the Ministry all but a week to confirm that anyone who was physically marked by Voldemort died with him, but there were those supporters of his who weren't marked still out and about.

"At this point the DMLE is going to assume that's the case and proceed from there. The working theory is that these are either unmarked supporters or family members of marked supporters who are looking for revenge. The Ministry is doing all it can at this point, and I just wanted to let you know so that you know to be careful."

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Shacklebolt's warning was on the forefront of Harry's mind as he made his way up the spiraling staircase leading to the headmistress' office. The headmistress had arranged for both he and Padma to have lunch with her so that they could discuss any problems on the train or getting students settled in.

Knocking on the office door and following McGonagoll's command to enter, Harry noted that Padma was already seated and that a fine lunch was set out for the three of them. The office under McGonagoll was much like it had been under Dumbledore. There were fewer trinkets scattered about and Fawkes' perch was missing, but so many of Dumbledore's things had been left to the school that most of the bookshelves appeared unchanged.

Certainly the largest change was the portrait of Albus Dumbledore sleeping behind the large headmasters' desk.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Potter. We have several things to discuss, so we will have to eat while we talk." McGonagoll motioned Harry towards a chair and he was quick to take it as she began passing platters of food to Padma. "First and foremost, however, I am very interested in hearing an explanation as to why I was notified only an hour ago that my Head Boy has taken legal custody of a first-year student?"

A single glance at McGonagoll's narrowed eyes and thinned lips caused any worry Harry previously had about unmarked Death Eaters out for revenge to be replaced with more immediate concerns regarding his continued survival.

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**AN:** I'm not sure what suffixes follow a professional solicitor working in the UK, so if you have any insight, please feel free to pass that along. Thanks for reading.


End file.
